York's Appiah, Ottawa's Ward take home Players of the Week

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CIS Press Release12/11/2012 4:15:23 PM

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Cynthia Appiah, a track and field star from York University, and Warren Ward, a basketball standout from the University of Ottawa, are the CIS female and male athletes of the week for the period ending Dec. 2, 2012.

The next CIS athlete-of-the-week selection is set for Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013.

Appiah, a fifth-year history and psychology student from Toronto, broke a school record and claimed two gold medals at the Xmas Open meet in Toronto, last Saturday. In the weight throw competition, the 5-foot-8 senior surpassed the 18-metre mark for the first time in her career and shattered the previous York standard of 18.07 thanks to a throw of 18.43 metres, an effort that would have been good for gold at five of the last six CIS championships. The two-time all-Canadian also prevailed in the shot put with a throw of 13.95, more than two metres better than her closest rival.

Saint Mary's hockey player Sienna Cooke and basketball players Marie-Pascale Nadeau of Laval and Kiera Lyons of Saskatchewan were also nominated for the women's award.

Ward, a fifth-year arts student from London, Ont., also set a new school record last Friday when he scored a CIS season-high 43 points in a 94-83 road win over Wilfrid Laurier. The 6-foot-5 guard, who shot 18-of-35 from the floor and also grabbed eight rebounds during the contest, was simply unstoppable in the fourth quarter as he made nine of 12 shots, including five tying or go-ahead baskets. The two-time OUA all-star completed his memorable weekend on Saturday with 13 points and a team-high nine boards in an 82-72 victory at Waterloo that helped lift the Gee-Gees (7-1) to tenth place in the final national rankings of the fall semester. The previous uOttawa single-game record of 42 points had been set in 1990 by Bill Shane and tied in 2000 by Chet Wydrzynski.

Acadia hockey player Andrew Clark and basketball players Thibaud Dezutter of Laval and Kevon Parchment of Fraser Valley were the other male nominees.